Ezekiel 15

1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

The word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, how is a vine better than any tree with branches that is among the trees in a forest?

"Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest?

3 Do people take wood from a vine to make anything? Or do they make a peg from it to hang anything on it?

Shall wood be taken of it to make any work? Or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?

4 See! If it is thrown into a fire as fuel, and if the fire has burned both of its ends and also the middle, is it good for anything?

Look, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire has devoured both its ends, and its midst is burned: is it profitable for any work?

5 See! When it was complete, it could not make anything; surely then, when the fire has burned, then it still will not make anything useful.

Look, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work.

6 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Unlike the trees in the forests, I have given the vine as fuel for fires; I will act in the same way toward the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

"Therefore thus says Jehovah: 'As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

7 For I will set my face against them. Though they come out from the fire, yet the fire will consume them; so you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them.

I will set my face against them; they shall go forth from the fire, but the fire shall devour them; and you shall know that I am Jehovah, when I set my face against them.

8 Then I will make the land into an abandoned wasteland because they have committed sin—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.”

I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass,' says Jehovah."